Chapter 1, Getting Ready, introduces the ASP.NET Core and Angular frameworks, explaining how they can effectively be used to build a feature-rich, modern web application. It then enumerates the core aspects of a common SPA project, which will be addressed throughout the following chapters. The last part covers the required steps for setting up a .NET Core web application project, along with its required packages and components, up to a buildable and running app skeleton.
Chapter 2, Backend with .NET Core, explains how we can build our very own set of APIs to exchange JSON data between a server-side ASP.NET Core Controller and a client-side Angular Component. The reader will learn how to handle the HTTP request-response cycle and also how to configure the improved routing logic built upon the .NET Core pipeline.
Chapter 3, Frontend with Angular, focuses on the client-side aspects; the reader will learn how to fetch JSON objects with Angular and show the retrieved data onscreen using the Angular Template Syntax. They will also understand how to deal with client-side routing in Angular and how to implement a viable routing pattern using the PathLocationStrategy approach.
Chapter 4, Data Model with Entity Framework Core, guides the reader through implementing a proper, DBMS-based Data Model using Entity Framework (EF) Core. They will learn how to install and properly configure the required EF Core packages, then use them to build a lightweight set of entities and persist them into a database structure using the Code-First approach.
Chapter 5, Client-Server Interactions, shows how the existing code can be upgraded to make full use of the EF Core Entities defined in the last chapter. The reader will learn how to fetch and persist the application data using the database instead of the sample objects mocked by the previous data-retrieval methods.
Chapter 6, Style Sheets and UI Layout, introduces LESS, a powerful dynamic style sheet language that can be compiled into CSS. After a brief overview of the LESS language syntax, the reader will learn how to add, implement, and compile LESS scripts within the application project to greatly improve the frontend UI.
Chapter 7, Forms and Data Validation, is mostly dedicated to passing data from the client to the server, from account-related features--such as user registration--to more complex interactions with the whole range of existing Entities. The reader will learn how to send PUT- and POST-based requests using the versatile Angular Model-Driven approach, and how to properly respond to them by extending the existing .NET Core Controllers accordingly.
Chapter 8, Authentication and Authorization, starts as a recap of the most relevant auth-related concepts for building a web application and then shows how to turn these concepts into practice. The reader will learn how to implement a sample token-based auth provider and also how to properly add and configure it throughout the existing Entity Framework entities, .NET core services, and HTTP middleware list.
Chapter 9, Advanced Topics, shows how to implement a specific set of features required to finalize a production-ready web application, such as token expiration, refresh tokens, new user registration, and third-party authentication.
Chapter 10, Finalization and Deployment, describes the most common tasks to publish a potentially shippable web application onto a production server. The reader will learn how to replace the localDb instance with an external SQL Server, create FTP and FileSystem publishing profiles, upload their compiled application to an external server, and configure it to run under IIS using the .NET Core Windows Server Hosting bundle; they will also learn how to deal with the most common issues with the help of some .NET Core-specific troubleshooting techniques.
